Mobile telecommunications system entity for transmitting system information in a 5g network

ABSTRACT

A mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobile telecommunications system has at least one entity, which serves at least one user equipment. The mobile telecommunications system entity has circuitry which is configured to transmit scheduling information for on-demand system information, which can be requested by the at least one user equipment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/343,793, filed Apr. 22, 2019, which is based on PCT filingPCT/EP2017/077531 filed Oct. 26, 2017, which claims priority to EP16196249.3, filed Oct. 28, 2016, the entire contents of each areincorporated herein by its reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally pertains to mobile telecommunicationssystem entities.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Several generations of mobile telecommunications systems are known, e.g.the third generation (“3G”), which is based on the International MobileTelecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications, the fourth generation(“4G”), which provides capabilities as defined in the InternationalMobile Telecommunications-Advanced Standard (IMT-Advanced Standard), andthe current fifth generation (“5G”), which is under development andwhich might be put into practice in the year 2020.

A candidate for providing the requirements of 5G is the so called LongTerm Evolution (“LTE”), which is a wireless communication technologyallowing high-speed data communications for mobile phones and dataterminals and which is already used for 4G mobile telecommunicationssystems. Other candidates for meeting the 5G requirements are termed NewRadio Access Technology Systems (NR). An NR can be based on LTEtechnology, just as LTE was based on previous generations of mobilecommunications technology.

LTE is based on the GSM/EDGE (“Global System for MobileCommunications”/“Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution” also calledEGPRS) of the second generation (“2G”) and UMTS/HSPA (“Universal MobileTelecommunications System”/“High Speed Packet Access”) of the thirdgeneration “3G”) network technologies.

LTE is standardized under the control of 3GPP (“3rd GenerationPartnership Project”). There exists a successor LTE-A (LTE Advanced)allowing higher data rates as the basis LTE which is also standardizedunder the control of 3GPP.

For the future, 3GPP plans to further develop LTE-A, such that it willbe able to fulfill the technical requirements of 5G.

As the 5G system will be based on LTE or LTE-A, respectively, it isassumed that specific requirements of the 5G technologies will,basically, be dealt with by features and methods which are alreadydefined in the LTE and LTE-A standard documentation.

5G technologies will allow a concept of a so called “virtual cell” or“local cell” or the like, which may also be based on NR. In thisconcept, a cell is served by a user equipment (“UE”), e.g. a mobilephone, a computer, tablet, tablet personal computer or the likeincluding a mobile communication interface, or any other device which isable to perform a mobile telecommunication via, for example, LTE(-A),such as a hot spot device with a mobile communication interface. Inshort, the UE works dynamically as an intermediate node for establishingan indirect network connection between other UEs in the vicinity of thevirtual cell or local cell and the network, and/or as an intermediatenode between UEs. A function of the intermediate node on the UE may alsobe carried out by “virtualization”. A virtual cell or local cell maycommunicate with UEs in unlicensed, shared licensed or licensed bands,and it backhauls to network preferably in licensed bands.

A logical separation between control plane and user plane has beenachieved in accordance with the introduction of the IP Multimedia System(IMS) for LTE, and a physical separation between control plane and userplane has been proposed as a possible solution for 5G or NR. Sincerequirements for the control plane should be basically robustness andwide coverage so as to maintain the service continuity, a macro oranchor entity (e.g. base station or Evolved Node B) should provide alink of the control plane. On the other hand, a key performance of theuser plane is the efficient spectrum usage in order to improve the cellcapacity. However, since the requirements of the user plane are highlydepending on specific use case or UE capability/category, a variety oftypes of reception/transmission or routing methods are consideredaccording to the respective use case or UE capability/category takinginto account a concept for 5G such as “network slicing”.

For the 5G technologies, it is envisaged that a UE or other NR stationsin the function as a virtual cell, local cell, micro or pico cell,Transmission/Reception Point (TRP) or the like should be able to takeover responsibilities, which are typically handled, for example, in abase station, or eNodeB (Evolved Node B) as it is called in LTE (theeNodeB is the element in the evolved UTRA of LTE, the UTRA being theUMTS Terrestrial Radio Access). Such responsibilities, which areenvisaged to be performed in the UE as a virtual cell or the other NRstations or entities mentioned above, are, for example, radio resourcemanagement, radio resource control (RRC), connection control, etc.

However, although there exist signaling techniques for the 5Gtechnologies, it is generally desirable to improve the signaling.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect, the disclosure provides a mobiletelecommunications system entity for a mobile telecommunications systemincluding at least one entity serving at least one user equipment,comprising circuitry configured to transmit scheduling information foron-demand system information, which can be requested by the at least oneuser equipment.

According to a second aspect, the disclosure provides a mobiletelecommunications system entity for a mobile telecommunications systemincluding at least one entity serving at least one user equipment,comprising circuitry configured to transmit, in response to a requestfor system information from a user equipment, indication informationindicating to the user equipment to receive broadcast information.

According to a third aspect, the disclosure provides a mobiletelecommunications system entity for a mobile telecommunications systemincluding at least one entity serving at least one user equipment,comprising circuitry configured to transmit, in response to a requestfor system information from a user equipment, scheduling information tothe user equipment.

According to a fourth aspect, the disclosure provides a mobiletelecommunications system entity for a mobile telecommunications systemincluding at least one entity serving at least one user equipment,comprising circuitry configured to transmit over a broadcast channel, inresponse to a request for system information from a user equipment,indication information indicating to the user equipment to receivescheduling information.

According to a fifth aspect, the disclosure provides a mobiletelecommunications system entity for a mobile telecommunications systemincluding at least one entity serving at least one user equipment,comprising circuitry configured to receive a system information requestfrom the at least one user equipment and receive at least one of:channel quality, coverage and block error rate information; and adjustat least one of redundancy level, periodicity of transmission,transmission start point and boost with beamforming for the at least oneuser equipment.

According to a sixths aspect, the disclosure provides a mobiletelecommunications system anchor entity including at least one entityserving at least one user equipment, the anchor entity comprisingcircuitry configured to transmit scheduling information for on-demandsystem information, which can be requested by the at least one userequipment and which is transmitted by the at least one entity servingthe at least one user equipment.

Further aspects are set forth in the dependent claims, the followingdescription and the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments are explained by way of example with respect to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a radio access network including an LTE cell and NRcells;

FIG. 2 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 3 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 4 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 5 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 6 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 7 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 8 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 9 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information;

FIG. 10 illustrates a transmission scheme for system information andscheduling information; and

FIG. 11 illustrates schematically a general purpose computer which maybe used for implementing an entity or user equipment as describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Before a detailed description of the embodiments under reference of FIG.1, general explanations are made.

As mentioned in the outset, in general, several generations of mobiletelecommunications systems are known, e.g. the third generation (“3G”),which is based on the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000(IMT-2000) specifications, the fourth generation (“4G”), which providescapabilities as defined in the International MobileTelecommunications-Advanced Standard (IMT-Advanced Standard), and thecurrent fifth generation (“5G”), which is under development and whichmight be put into practice in the year 2020.

A candidate for providing the requirements of 5G is the so called LongTerm Evolution (“LTE”), which is a wireless communication technologyallowing high-speed data communications for mobile phones and dataterminals and which is already used for 4G mobile telecommunicationssystems. Other candidates for meeting the 5G requirements are termed NewRadio Access Technology Systems (NR). An NR can be based on LTEtechnology, just as LTE was based on previous generations of mobilecommunications technology.

LTE is based on the GSM/EDGE (“Global System for MobileCommunications”/“Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution” also calledEGPRS) of the second generation (“2G”) and UMTS/HSPA (“Universal MobileTelecommunications System”/“High Speed Packet Access”) of the thirdgeneration “3G”) network technologies.

LTE is standardized under the control of 3GPP (“3rd GenerationPartnership Project”). There exists a successor LTE-A (LTE Advanced)allowing higher data rates as the basis LTE which is also standardizedunder the control of 3GPP.

For the future, 3GPP plans to further develop LTE-A, such that it willbe able to fulfill the technical requirements of 5G.

As the 5G system will be based on LTE or LTE-A, respectively, it isassumed that specific requirements of the 5G technologies will,basically, be dealt with by features and methods which are alreadydefined in the LTE and LTE-A standard documentation.

5G technologies will allow a concept of a so called “virtual cell”,“local cell”, “distributed unit”, “TRP (Transmission/Reception Point)”or the like, which may also be based on NR. In this concept, a cell isserved by a user equipment (“UE”), e.g. a mobile phone, a computer,tablet, tablet personal computer or the like including a mobilecommunication interface, or any other device which is able to perform amobile telecommunication via, for example, LTE(-A), such as a hot spotdevice with a mobile communication interface. In short, the UE worksdynamically as an intermediate node for establishing an indirect networkconnection between other UEs in the vicinity of the virtual cell orlocal cell and the network, and/or as an intermediate node between UEs.A function of the intermediate node on the UE may also be carried out by“virtualization”. A virtual cell, local cell, “distributed unit” or “TRP(Transmission/Reception Point)” may communicate with UEs in unlicensed,shared licensed or licensed bands, and it backhauls to networkpreferably in licensed bands.

A logical separation between control plane and user plane has beenachieved in accordance with the introduction of the IP Multimedia System(IMS) for LTE, and a physical separation between control plane and userplane has been proposed as a possible solution for 5G or NR. Sincerequirements for the control plane should be basically robustness andwide coverage so as to maintain the service continuity, a macro oranchor entity (e.g. base station or Evolved Node B) should provide alink of the control plane. On the other hand, a key performance of theuser plane is the efficient spectrum usage in order to improve the cellcapacity. However, since the requirements of the user plane are highlydepending on specific use case or UE capability/category, a variety oftypes of reception/transmission or routing methods are consideredaccording to the respective use case or UE capability/category takinginto account a concept for 5G such as “network slicing”.

For the 5G technologies, it is envisaged that a UE or other NR stationsin the function as a virtual cell, local cell, micro or pico cell,Transmission/Reception Point (TRP) or the like should be able to takeover responsibilities, which are typically handled, for example, in abase station, or eNodeB (Evolved Node B) as it is called in LTE (theeNodeB is the element in the evolved UTRA of LTE, the UTRA being theUMTS Terrestrial Radio Access). Such responsibilities, which areenvisaged to be performed in the UE as a virtual cell or the other NRstations or entities mentioned above, are, for example, radio resourcemanagement, radio resource control (RRC) connection control, etc.

As mentioned, the new Radio Access Technology (RAT) developed for 5G,called New Radio (NR), may be used in local cells and virtual cells insome embodiments, but there may also be small cells provided by NReNodeBs and maybe TRPs.

In 3GPP document R2-164809, “System Information Area”, 3GPP TSG RAN WG″Meeting #95, Gothenburg, Sweden, 22-26 Aug. 2016, four scenarios arelisted for an NR system information enhancement study and, moreover, aconcept of a system information area is introduced.

The system Information Area (SIA) may be, in some embodiments, an areawhere all TRP/beams in the SIA are configured with at least some commonessential system information (SI) and possibly part of non-essential SIwhich is broadcasted. In some embodiments, if this includes System FrameNumber then all TRPs in the same SIA are synchronized. The broadcast canbe handled by each TRP individually (single frequency network (SFN)transmission if synchronized), and/or via overlaid node(s) (e.g. LFmacro), and/or a combination of local TRP broadcast and coverageoverlaid node(s) e.g. different SI-Y broadcasted locally by each TRP andother common essential SI (SI-X)+non-essential SI which is broadcastedover overlaid node(s) (wherein SI-X is defined in R2-164809 as commonpart across an area involving potentially multiple TRP/beams that can beacquired early, and SI-Y as TRP/beam-specific part that may be acquiredonly before performing RACH).

Alternatively or additionally, the SIA may be a set of potentiallydifferent essential SIs used by different TRPs in the SIA commonlybroadcasted by overlaid node(s) (e.g. LF macros) over the SIA coverage.

In a 3GPP RAN2#95b meeting, the following agreements on NR systeminformation have been made, which are, thus, covered in someembodiments:

-   -   For on demand system information (SI), other SIs may be        broadcasted at configurable periodicity (equivalent to SI period        in LTE) and for a certain duration.    -   Request of the other SI by idle and “new state” UE should be        performed without state transition.    -   For a SI required by the UE, the UE should know, whether the SI        is available in the cell and whether the SI is broadcasted or        not before it sends another SI request (e.g. by checking minimum        SI).    -   In addition to basic information for initial access to the cell,        minimum SIs should include the scheduling information for        broadcasted Sis.    -   Public Warning System (PWS) information can be classified into        other SI. For further study whether this PWS would need        additional enhancements.

Moreover, it is for further study, whether the minimum SIs isbroadcasted periodically in every cell on which a UE can camp, andwhether there are cells in the system where the UE cannot camp, and,thus, some embodiments pertain also to this issue.

Some embodiments, address at least some of the following issues, namelye.g. how to notify the on-demand SI broadcast information and how todesign the scheduling information by considering the deployment scenariowith and without anchor SI entity.

In some embodiments, for scheduling information transmission, thefollowing aspects are addressed.

Some embodiments provide a solution for transmitting schedulinginformation in a broadcast manner and, for example, provide solutionsfor implementations using a separated transmission of schedulinginformation, e.g. a two-stage (or multi-stage) scheduling informationtransmission, which take the trade-off between control signalingoverhead and scheduling flexibility into account. Some embodiments alsoprovide solutions for UEs which may miss the scheduling information.Some embodiments provide solutions for the network, e.g. eNodeB (LTE, NRor the like), where an anchor SI entity is used and for networks whereno anchor SI entity is used, as will also discussed further below.

In some embodiments, a system information area is composed of one ormore entities (e.g. LTE and/or NR eNodeB, LTE/NR central units (CU),LTE/NR distributed units (DU), LTE/NR Transmit and Receive Point (TRP),or the like). Within such a system information area, the systeminformation (or minimum system information which may only include basicinformation, such as cell access information, cell select information,information for acquiring other SI (everything not in minimum SI) andthe like) would be the same or different among different entities. Theminimum system information may further include information aboutentities within the system information area. This information can beprovided, for example, by a list including identification numbers or thelike of entities within the same system information area.

In some embodiments, each system information area will have a uniqueidentifier and this identifier will be used by the UE to judge whetherit moves to a new system information area or not. In some embodiments,the system information area is introduced, when anchor entity or anchorcell (or two or more anchor entities/cells) are provided. A systeminformation area may be an aggregation of one or more entities, whereinamong these entities one or more anchor cells (anchor entities) areprovided which collect system information and/or scheduling informationof other entities and send the collected system and/or schedulinginformation to the UEs on behalf of these other entities, as will alsobe discussed further below.

In general, in this disclosure, entities, such as a base station,eNodeB, etc., as mentioned, may be based on the principles of LTE(LTE-A) and/or be based on NR RAT, as also discussed above. The entitymay be based on the known eNodeB of LTE, as one example, or it may bebased on the discussed NR eNodeB.

A user equipment, as discussed herein, may be, for example, a mobilephone, smartphone, a computer, tablet, tablet personal computer or thelike including a mobile communication interface, or any other devicewhich is able to perform a mobile telecommunication via, for example,LTE or NR, such as a hot spot device with a mobile communicationinterface, etc.

A circuitry as discussed herein may include at least one of: processor,microprocessor, dedicated circuit, memory, storage, radio interface,wireless interface, network interface, or the like, e.g. typicalelectronic components which are included in a base station, such as aneNodeB.

An (anchor) entity may provide a respective (anchor) cell, as it isgenerally known. The mobile telecommunications system discussed hereinmay be LTE based and/or NR based. In particular, it may be a mixture ofLTE and NR.

Some embodiments, where for example no anchor entity is used fortransmission of scheduling information, pertain to a mobiletelecommunications system entity for a mobile telecommunications systemincluding at least one entity serving at least one user equipment,comprising circuitry configured to transmit scheduling information foron-demand system information, which can be requested by the at least oneuser equipment. The transmitting, as used herein, may includebroadcasting and/or unicasting.

It is noted that the scheduling information in this disclosure may alsobe broadcasted/unicasted in the embodiments discussed in the presentdisclosure.

The on-demand system information may be information, which is notincluded in the minimum system information as mentioned above.

Hence, in some embodiments, the scheduling information for the on-demandsystem information may be broadcasted by all entities or the entity whowill be responsible to transmit the on-demand system information, e.g.NR and/or LTE eNodeBs.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation with a predetermined periodicity, predetermined duration,and/or at a predetermined transmission time.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation included in system information. For example, the schedulinginformation may be included in a master information block (MIB) of thesystem information. The scheduling information may be included in asystem information block (SIB) of the system information.

System information is typically a type of control information. In thecurrent LTE, the system information is broadcasted in so called SystemInformation Blocks (SIB), which are, for example:

MIB (Master Information Block): physical layer information of a LTEcell, e.g. transmission bandwidth configuration, system frame numberetc.

SIB1: information regarding whether or not UE is allowed to access theLTE cell, defines scheduling of the other SIBs, and carries cell ID, SIBmapping information, etc.

SIB2: common channel and shared channel information

There exist further blocks, e.g. SIB4 to SIB19 in LTE, which aregenerally known.

Hence, it is assumed that a similar system information structure willalso be applied in further LTE and also in NR.

In some embodiments, the scheduling information is divided at least in afirst part and a second part.

The first part may include information about a time schedule accordingto which the second part is transmitted.

The first part may be included in a master information block of systeminformation and the second part may be included in a system informationblock of system information.

The first part may indicate a time schedule according to which systeminformation block information is transmitted and/or going to betransmitted.

Hence, in some embodiments the UE may decide on the basis of theinformation in the master information block, whether the other systeminformation is needed, and whether it wants to read the second part ofthe scheduling information.

The first part may indicate a time schedule for bits in the systeminformation block.

As another example, the first part may indicate a time schedule for bitsof group of system information blocks, e.g. service specific systeminformation block group, cell selection/reselection system informationblock group, mobility system information block group etc.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit informationindicating, whether the system information is addressed to all userequipments or to specific user equipments. Also here, the UE can decidewhether it needs the system information or not.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit informationindicating a change of a system information block. This information maybe included in a master information block.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit information, whetherthe change of the system information block is addressed to all userequipments or to specific user equipments.

The scheduling information may be transmitted within a systeminformation block.

Some embodiments, pertain to a mobile telecommunications system entityfor a mobile telecommunications system including at least one entityserving at least one user equipment, comprising circuitry configured totransmit, in response to a request for system information from a userequipment, indication information indicating to the user equipment toreceive broadcast information.

Thereby, it can be ensured that the UE tries to receive schedulinginformation for receiving system information instead of continuouslyrequesting on-demand system information. The broadcast information mayinclude scheduling information.

The indication information may be transmitted based on a connectionstate of the user equipment. For instance, the indication information istransmitted in a radio resource control (RRC) message, when the userequipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state. Theindication information may also be transmitted in a random accesschannel (RACH) message, when the user equipment is in a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) inactive state or in a radio resource control (RRC) idlestate.

Some embodiments pertain to a mobile telecommunications system entityfor a mobile telecommunications system including at least one entityserving at least one user equipment, comprising circuitry configured totransmit, in response to a request for system information from a userequipment, scheduling information to the user equipment.

Some embodiments pertain to a mobile telecommunications system entityfor a mobile telecommunications system including at least one entityserving at least one user equipment, comprising circuitry configured totransmit over a broadcast channel, in response to a request for systeminformation from a user equipment, indication information indicating tothe user equipment to receive scheduling information.

The broadcast channel may be addressed, based on a radio access network(RAN) area or the broadcast channel may be addressed in a masterinformation block.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit information, whichindicates to the at least one user equipment to read the schedulinginformation.

Some embodiments pertain to a mobile telecommunications system entityfor a mobile telecommunications system including at least one entityserving at least one user equipment, comprising circuitry configured toreceive a system information request from the at least one userequipment and receive at least one of: channel quality, coverage andblock error rate information; and adjust at least one of redundancylevel, periodicity of transmission, transmission start point and boostwith beamforming for the at least one user equipment.

Some embodiments pertain to a mobile telecommunications system anchorentity including at least one entity serving at least one userequipment, the anchor entity comprising circuitry configured to transmitscheduling information for on-demand system information, which can berequested by the at least one user equipment and which is transmitted bythe at least one entity serving the at least one user equipment.

Hence, in these embodiments, the anchor entity transmits, for example,minimum system information, wherein another entity, which may not be ananchor entity, transmits the on-demand system information.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation with a predetermined periodicity, a predetermined durationand/or at a predetermined transmission time.

The circuitry may be further configured to transmit indicationinformation that the scheduling information for the at least one entityserving the at least one user equipment is included in systeminformation.

The indication information may be included in a master information blockof the system information.

The scheduling information may be included in a system information blockof the system information.

The scheduling information may be divided at least in a first part and asecond part.

The first part may include information about a time schedule accordingto which the second part is transmitted.

The first part may be included in a master information block of systeminformation and the second part may be included in a system informationblock of system information.

The first part may indicate a time schedule according to which systeminformation block information is transmitted.

The first part may indicate a time schedule for bits in the systeminformation block.

The scheduling information may be transmitted over a broadcast channelof the anchor entity, the broadcast channel having a predefinedidentifier.

The predefined identifier may be a system information area identifier.

All user equipments within the system information area may have a commonidentifier and the scheduling information may be directed to the userequipments having the common identifier.

Returning to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a RAN 1 which has a macro cell2, which is established by a LTE eNodeB 3, which may also be exemplaryan anchor entity. Moreover, three pico cells 4 a, 4 b and 4 c areprovided, which are each established by an NR eNodeB 5 a, 5 b and 5 c,respectively. The NR cells 4 a-c may also include more than one TRP/DU(transmission reception point/distributed unit) connected to a single CU(central unit).

A UE 6 can communicate with the LTE eNodeB 3 and, as long it is withinone of the pico cells 4 a, 4 b and 4 c, respectively, it can alsocommunicate with the associated NR eNodeB 5 a, 5 b and 5 c,respectively.

In this embodiment, the LTE eNodeB 3 and the NR eNodeBs 5 a, 5 b and 5 cmay form a system information area, as also discussed above. The systeminformation area may have a specific identifier, on the basis of whichthe system information area can be identified.

The UE 6 may travel around (see dashed arrow), and in this simplemobility scenario, the UE 6 remains under the coverage of the same LTEcell 2, while passing through the coverage of multiple NR small cells,such as the three NR cells 4 a-c.

In the following, embodiments are discussed, where no entity having ananchor function for transmission of system information is provided.

For the system information provision (SI) without anchor SI entity, eachentity/cell, e.g. LTE eNodeB 3 and NR cells 4 a-c will broadcast systeminformation including minimum SI and other SI (or on-demand SI) byitself.

In general, in some embodiments, the scheduling information of thebroadcast of other SI will include the following: periodicity (e.g. 80ms, 160 ms), duration (number of periodicity, e.g. 1, 2 or 4periodicity) and potentially transmission time (transmission startpoint).

For instance, in the case that the other system information is noturgently demanded, there may exist a notification period of broadcastedother SI. Such a notification period can be pre-defined or indicated,and may be changed, in the MIB. Then, the transmission time can indicateafter which amount of notification period, the SI will start to betransmitted. The start of transmission of the SI may also be indicatedin other forms, as will become apparent from the following description.

Currently, there is no definition on how to transmit minimum SI in NR.For instance, as also discussed above, in LTE there is a MIB which willbe transmitted in broadcast channel PBCH (physical broadcast channel)and SIBx which is be transmitted in a shared channel PDSCH (physicaldownlink shared channel).

For NR, there may be a separated transmission of minimum SI on broadcastchannel and shared channel, then the following embodiments fortransmitting the scheduling information may be supported.

As also illustrated in FIG. 2, in an embodiment, the schedulinginformation of on-demand SI will be included in the MIB-like systeminformation, which is transmitted at 10 by the LTE eNodeB 3 and at 11 bythe NR eNodeB 5 and is received by the UE accordingly.

In this embodiment, for every possible SIBs which will be allowed to betransmitted in an on-demand manner, a scheduling list is provided foreach of them (SIBs) and their corresponding scheduling information isalso provided, even though some bits of the SIBs will not be scheduledto be broadcasted. Further optimizations can be considered to minimizethe message size. In some embodiments, it is the fasted way to get thecorresponding scheduling information at the cost of increased MIB-likesize.

Although, the embodiment has been illustrated exemplary on the basis ofa MIB, in more general, the system information may be always transmittedwith pre-defined period, with fixed resource allocation, and potentiallywith fixed size. Moreover, this may also be used for the minimum SI.

As also illustrated in FIG. 3, in a further embodiment, a (first) partof scheduling information of on-demand SI will be included in theMIB-like system information and the other (second) part or the otherparts of the scheduling information are included in the SIB1-like systeminformation.

For instance, the MIB-like system information is transmitted at 13 bythe LTE eNodeB 3 and at 15 by the NR eNodeB 5, whereas the SIB1-likesystem information is transmitted at 14 by the LTE eNodeB 3 and at 16 bythe NR eNodeB 5.

For example, a bit map will be included in the MIB-like SI to indicatewhich SIBs will be broadcasted soon and the detailed schedulinginformation will be indicated in the SIB1-like SI.

In this embodiment, the UEs will get information of SIBs/SI messages tobe broadcasted and decide whether to receive the correspondingscheduling information by itself. Hence, the UE 6 will decide, whetherit receives the messages transmitted at 14 and 16.

This embodiment takes characteristics of on-demand SI transmission intoaccount. Not all of the UEs are interested in all of the on-demand SItransmission. If certain UEs can get the scheduling information of itsinterested SI in MIB in advance, it can decide to read the followingdetailed scheduling information otherwise it just ignores the schedulinginformation. Hence, this embodiment, considers the trade-off between thecontrol signaling overhead in MIB-like SI and scheduling flexibility.

As another example, the other SI can be further divided into other SIfor all UEs and other SI for certain UEs. Then, for example, the bit mapwill be separated accordingly, e.g. into an ALL-UE-SIB-BITMAP andSOME-UE-SIB-BITMAP.

If a SIB, which is provided for all the UEs, will be broadcasted, thecorresponding bit in the ALL-UE-SIB-BITMAP will be set. With thisindication, the UEs can judge whether they are expected to receive someSIBs. This may also be referred to as multi-stage scheduling.

In another embodiment, the so-called Value tag for indicating a SIBchange (and which SIBs change) can be included in MIB as well. Asdiscussed above, a separated indication that this SIB change is relevantfor all UEs or for some or specific UEs can be included (e.g.ALL-UE-SIB-CHANGE-BITMAP and SOME-UE-SIB-CHANGE-BITMAP).

Although the embodiment has been explained on the basis of the SIB1system information, in more general, system information may betransmitted potentially with a specific period, with adaptive resourceallocation and with dynamic size. Moreover, this may also be used forminimum SI.

In a further embodiment, the scheduling information of on-demand SI isincluded in the SIB1-like system information, as is indicated at 14′transmitted by the LTE eNodeB 3 and 16′ transmitted by the NR eNodeB 5.

Of course, the embodiments discussed under reference of FIGS. 2 and 3also apply for embodiments where an anchor entity is provided.

In the following embodiments pertaining to a scenario where a UE missesthe scheduling information are discussed.

Although, as also discussed above, in principle, the UE 6 has to checkthe availability of expected SI before it sends a request for SI, it ispossible that the UE 6 will miss the scheduling information, forexample, since the scheduling information is sent just after the SIrequest or since the UE 6 missed the latest update and has to waitanother period to receive the updated SI.

In such cases, the network should typically notify the UEs in order toavoid transmitting requested SI via dedicated signaling. In thefollowing, some embodiments pertaining to this issue are discussed. Inprinciple, the network could also do nothing until the UEs themselvesreceive the updated broadcast information in MIB-like/SIB1-like blocks.

In an embodiment, as also illustrated in FIG. 4, the network, e.g. LTEeNodeB 3 at 20 and/or NR eNodeB 5 at 21, will notify the UE 6 at to readthe corresponding broadcast information transmitted at 22 by the LTEeNodeB 3 and transmitted at 23 by the NR eNodeB 5.

In more detail, for example, the UE 6 transmits a SI request message at19 to the LTE eNodeB 3 and/or to the NR eNodeB 5. In the reply message20 and/or 21, which follows the SI request from the UE 6 transmitted at19, depending on the UE state, an indication will be included in thereply message 20 and/or 21 to ask the UE 6 to read the broadcastinformation, which is transmitted at 22 and/or 23.

For instance, if the UE 6 is in the RRC_CONNECTED UE, the indicationwill be carried and included in the e.g. RRC message. For the RRC_IDLEor RRC_INACTIVE UEs, the indication will be carried in e.g. the RACHmessage. With this indication, the UE 6 will receive the schedulinginformation in the broadcast information at 22 and/or 23.

In another embodiment, as also illustrated in FIG. 5, the UE 6 transmitsat 30 a SI request to the LTE eNodeB 3 and/or to the NR eNodeB 5. Thenetwork, e.g. LTE eNodeB 3 and/or NR eNodeB 5, notifies thecorresponding scheduling information of requested SI to UE 6 in thereply message followed by the SI request from the UE 6, which istransmitted, for example, at 31 by the LTE eNodeB 3 and/or at 32 by theNR eNodeB 5. Instead of an indication, as discussed above, in thepresent embodiment, the specific scheduling information will be includedin the reply message transmitted at 31 and/or at 3.

In another embodiment, as also illustrated in FIG. 6, the network willnotify the UEs 6 by a broadcast channel which can be addressed by acommon ID, e.g. RAN based notification area, similar like a pagingmessage or in the MIB. Within the message transmitted at 34 by the LTEeNodeB 3 and/or at 35 by the NR eNodeB 5, an indication is set forasking the UEs 6 to read the corresponding scheduling information.

This indication is different for the system information change and for acurrent paging message.

This embodiment may be adopted in the case that network continuouslyreceives the SI request at 33 after certain SIBs have already beingscheduled.

In another embodiment, as also illustrated in FIG. 7, the UE 6 sends thechannel quality, coverage, BLER (block error ration), etc. together witha SI request at 36.

After receiving it, the network, e.g. LTE eNodeB 3 and/or NR eNodeB 5,may adjust the redundancy level, periodicity and/or SIBs transmissionstart point, accordingly or it may boost with beamforming for specificUEs 6 at 37 and/or 38, respectively.

In the following, embodiments employing an anchor entity, e.g. LTEeNodeB 3 are discussed.

In such embodiments, where an anchor entity transmits or broadcasts theSI, the anchor entity can also send the scheduling information insteadof each individual entity. For instance, the LTE eNodeB 3 (FIG. 1)transmits the scheduling information also for the NR eNodeBs 5 a-c.

As also mentioned above, if the on-demand SI will be scheduled on ananchor SI entity only, then all the embodiments as discussed above forFIGS. 2 and 3 can implemented for the anchor SI entity.

In the following, embodiments are discussed, where the on-demand SI isonly scheduled on an individual entity, such as LTE eNodeB 3 or NReNodeB 5.

In an embodiment, as also illustrated FIG. 8, in the MIB-like SI of theanchor cell 2 established by the LTE eNodeB 3, the indication of othercells' (e.g. 4 a, 4 b or 4 c in FIG. 1) scheduling information will beset, and scheduling information of on-demand SI, such as cell ID, SIBidentifier, periodicity etc., will be included in the SIB1-like systeminformation of the anchor cell which is transmitted at 40 by the anchorentity, i.e. LTE eNodeB 3 in the present embodiment.

The indication in the MIB-like SI only indicates that there is anotherSI scheduling, but it does not indicate any further information, e.g.about which cell and what kind of SIBs will be scheduled. The UEs 6 whowant to send the SI request or already sent the SI request, e.g. at 41,should check by themselves.

In another embodiment, as also illustrated in FIG. 9, a (first) part ofscheduling information will be included in the MIB-like SI sent at 45from the anchor cell 2 established by the anchor entity (e.g. LTE eNodeB3) and the detailed scheduling information will be included in theSIB1-like SI sent at 45 from the anchor cell 2 (anchor entity 3).

The information included in the MIB-like SI is the schedulinginformation for the scheduled SIBs and for the corresponding cell IDetc. The UE 6 can decide whether to receive the corresponding detailedscheduling information according to the indication in MIB-like SI. Thebasic design principle corresponds to the principle discussed aboveunder reference of FIG. 3.

In another embodiment, as also illustrated in FIG. 10, the schedulinginformation is broadcasted at 50 over a broadcast channel of the anchorentity, e.g. LTE eNodeB 3, which can be addressed by a common ID, suchas the system information area identifier mentioned above.

The corresponding scheduling information will be sent at 50 via aspecific broadcast channel and all the UEs 6 in the specific area e.g.system information area will share a common ID and can, thus, receivethe notification message.

Some embodiments focus on system information transmission/reception forfuture communication systems. With the schemes of some embodimentsdiscussed, the signaling overhead to receive system information may bereduced and the SI transmission/reception efficiency may be improved.

In the following, an embodiment of a general purpose computer 130 isdescribed under reference of FIG. 11. The computer 130 can beimplemented such that it can basically function as any type of entity,base station or new radio base station, transmission and receptionpoint, or user equipment as described herein. The computer hascomponents 131 to 140, which can form a circuitry, such as any one ofthe circuitries of the entities, base stations, and user equipments, asdescribed herein.

Embodiments which use software, firmware, programs or the like forperforming the methods as described herein can be installed on computer130, which is then configured to be suitable for the concreteembodiment.

The computer 130 has a CPU 131 (Central Processing Unit), which canexecute various types of procedures and methods as described herein, forexample, in accordance with programs stored in a read-only memory (ROM)132, stored in a storage 137 and loaded into a random access memory(RAM) 133, stored on a medium 140 which can be inserted in a respectivedrive 139, etc.

The CPU 131, the ROM 132 and the RAM 133 are connected with a bus 141,which in turn is connected to an input/output interface 134. The numberof CPUs, memories and storages is only exemplary, and the skilled personwill appreciate that the computer 130 can be adapted and configuredaccordingly for meeting specific requirements which arise, when itfunctions as a base station, and user equipment.

At the input/output interface 134 several components are connected: aninput 135, an output 136, the storage 137, a communication interface 138and the drive 139, into which a medium 140 (compact disc, digital videodisc, compact flash memory, or the like) can be inserted.

The input 135 can be a pointer device (mouse, graphic table, or thelike), a keyboard, a microphone, a camera, a touchscreen, etc.

The output 136 can have a display (liquid crystal display, cathode raytube display, light emittance diode display, etc.), loudspeakers, etc.

The storage 137 can have a hard disk, a solid state drive and the like.

The communication interface 138 can be adapted to communicate, forexample, via a local area network (LAN), wireless local area network(WLAN), mobile telecommunications system (GSM, UMTS, LTE, etc.),Bluetooth, infrared, etc.

It should be noted that the description above only pertains to anexample configuration of computer 130. Alternative configurations may beimplemented with additional or other sensors, storage devices,interfaces or the like. For example, the communication interface 138 maysupport other radio access technologies than the mentioned UMTS and LTE.

When the computer 130 functions as a base station, the communicationinterface 138 can further have a respective air interface (providinge.g. E-UTRA protocols OFDMA (downlink) and SC-FDMA (uplink)) and networkinterfaces (implementing for example protocols such as S1-AP, GTP-U,S1-MME, X2-AP, or the like). Moreover, the computer 130 may have one ormore antennas and/or an antenna array. The present disclosure is notlimited to any particularities of such protocols.

The methods as described herein are also implemented in some embodimentsas a computer program causing a computer and/or a processor and/or acircuitry to perform the method, when being carried out on the computerand/or processor and/or circuitry. In some embodiments, also anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium is provided thatstores therein a computer program product, which, when executed by aprocessor/circuitry, such as the processor/circuitry described above,causes the methods described herein to be performed.

It should be recognized that the embodiments describe methods with anexemplary ordering of method steps. The specific ordering of methodsteps is, however, given for illustrative purposes only and should notbe construed as binding. For example, the ordering in FIGS. 2 to 12 maybe exchanged.

Please note that the division of the control or circuitry of FIG. 11into units 131 to 140 is only made for illustration purposes and thatthe present disclosure is not limited to any specific division offunctions in specific units. For instance, at least parts of thecircuitry could be implemented by a respective programmed processor,field programmable gate array (FPGA), dedicated circuits, and the like.

All units and entities described in this specification and claimed inthe appended claims can, if not stated otherwise, be implemented asintegrated circuit logic, for example on a chip, and functionalityprovided by such units and entities can, if not stated otherwise, beimplemented by software.

In so far as the embodiments of the disclosure described above areimplemented, at least in part, using software-controlled data processingapparatus, it will be appreciated that a computer program providing suchsoftware control and a transmission, storage or other medium by whichsuch a computer program is provided are envisaged as aspects of thepresent disclosure.

Note that the present technology can also be configured as describedbelow.

(1) A mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobiletelecommunications system including at least one entity serving at leastone user equipment, comprising circuitry configured to:

-   -   transmit scheduling information for on-demand system        information, which can be requested by the at least one user        equipment.

(2) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (1), wherein thecircuitry is further configured to transmit the scheduling informationwith a predetermined periodicity.

(3) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (1) or (2), whereinthe circuitry is further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation with a predetermined duration.

(4) The mobile telecommunications system entity of anyone of (1) to (3),wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation at a predetermined transmission time.

(5) The mobile telecommunications system entity of anyone of (1) to (4),wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation included in system information.

(6) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (5), whereinscheduling information is included in a master information block of thesystem information.

(7) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (5) or (6), whereinthe scheduling information is included in a system information block ofthe system information.

(8) The mobile telecommunications system entity of anyone of (1) to (7),wherein the scheduling information is divided at least in a first partand a second part.

(9) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (8), wherein thefirst part includes information about a time schedule according to whichthe second part is transmitted.

(10) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (8) or (9), whereinthe first part is included in a master information block of systeminformation and the second part is included in a system informationblock of system information.

(11) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (10), wherein thefirst part indicates a time schedule according to which systeminformation block information is transmitted.

(12) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (10) or (11),wherein the first part indicates a time schedule for bits in the systeminformation block.

(13) The mobile telecommunications system entity of anyone of (1) to(12), wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmitinformation indicating whether the system information is addressed toall user equipments or to specific user equipments.

(14) The mobile telecommunications system entity of anyone of (1) to(13), wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmitinformation indicating a change of a system information block.

(15) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (14), wherein theinformation is included in a master information block.

(16) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (14) or (15),wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmit information,whether the change of the system information block is addressed to alluser equipments or to specific user equipments.

(17) The mobile telecommunications system entity of anyone of (1) to(16), wherein the scheduling information is transmitted within a systeminformation block.

(18) A mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobiletelecommunications system including at least one entity serving at leastone user equipment, comprising circuitry configured to:

-   -   transmit, in response to a request for system information from a        user equipment, indication information indicating to the user        equipment to receive broadcast information.

(19) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (18), wherein thebroadcast information includes scheduling information.

(20) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (18) or (19),wherein the indication information is transmitted based on a connectionstate of the user equipment.

(21) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (20), wherein theindication information is transmitted in a radio resource controlmessage, when the user equipment is in a radio resource controlconnected state.

(22) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (20), wherein theindication information is transmitted in a random access channelmessage, when the user equipment is in a radio resource control inactivestate or idle state.

(23) A mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobiletelecommunications system including at least one entity serving at leastone user equipment, comprising circuitry configured to:

-   -   transmit, in response to a request for system information from a        user equipment, scheduling information to the user equipment.

(24) A mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobiletelecommunications system including at least one entity serving at leastone user equipment, comprising circuitry configured to:

-   -   transmit over a broadcast channel, in response to a request for        system information from a user equipment, indication information        indicating to the user equipment to receive scheduling        information.

(25) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (24), wherein thebroadcast channel is addressed, based on a radio access network area orwherein the broadcast channel is addressed in a master informationblock.

(26) The mobile telecommunications system entity of (24) or (25),wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmit information,which indicates to the at least one user equipment to read thescheduling information.

(27) A mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobiletelecommunications system including at least one entity serving at leastone user equipment, comprising circuitry configured to:

-   -   receive a system information request from the at least one user        equipment and receive at least one of: channel quality, coverage        and block error rate information; and    -   adjust at least one of redundancy level, periodicity of        transmission, transmission start point and boost with        beamforming for the at least one user equipment.

(28) A mobile telecommunications system anchor entity including at leastone entity serving at least one user equipment, the anchor entitycomprising circuitry configured to:

-   -   transmit scheduling information for on-demand system        information, which can be requested by the at least one user        equipment and which is transmitted by the at least one entity        serving the at least one user equipment.

(29) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (28), whereinthe circuitry is further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation with a predetermined periodicity.

(30) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (28) or (29),wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmit the schedulinginformation with a predetermined duration.

(31) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of anyone of(28) to (30), wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmitthe scheduling information at a predetermined transmission time.

(32) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of anyone of(28) to (31), wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmitindication information that the scheduling information for the at leastone entity serving the at least one user equipment is included in systeminformation.

(33) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (32), whereinthe indication information is included in a master information block ofthe system information.

(34) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (32) or (33),wherein the scheduling information is included in a system informationblock of the system information.

(35) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of anyone of(28) to (34), wherein the scheduling information is divided at least ina first part and a second part.

(36) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (35), whereinthe first part includes information about a time schedule according towhich the second part is transmitted.

(37) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (35) or (36),wherein the first part is included in a master information block ofsystem information and the second part is included in a systeminformation block of system information.

(38) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (37), whereinthe first part indicates a time schedule according to which systeminformation block information is transmitted.

(39) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (37) or (38),wherein the first part indicates a time schedule for bits in the systeminformation block.

(40) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of anyone of(28) to (39), wherein the scheduling information is transmitted over abroadcast channel of the anchor entity, the broadcast channel having apredefined identifier.

(41) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (40), whereinthe predefined identifier is a system information area identifier.

(42) The mobile telecommunications system anchor entity of (41), whereinall user equipments within the system information area have a commonidentifier and wherein the scheduling information is directed to theuser equipments having the common identifier.

1. A mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobiletelecommunications system including at least one entity serving at leastone user equipment, comprising circuitry configured to: transmitscheduling information for on-demand system information, which can berequested by the at least one user equipment.
 2. The mobiletelecommunications system entity of claim 1, wherein the circuitry isfurther configured to transmit the scheduling information included insystem information.
 3. The mobile telecommunications system entity ofclaim 2, wherein the scheduling information is included in a systeminformation block of the system information.
 4. The mobiletelecommunications system entity of claim 1, wherein the schedulinginformation is divided at least in a first part and a second part. 5.The mobile telecommunications system entity of claim 4, wherein thefirst part includes information about a time schedule.
 6. The mobiletelecommunications system entity of claim 5, wherein the second part istransmitted according to the information about the time schedule.
 7. Themobile telecommunications system entity of claim 1, wherein the systeminformation includes minimum system information which includes basicinformation for initial access to a cell.
 8. The mobiletelecommunications system entity of claim 7, wherein the on-demandsystem information is not included in the minimum system information. 9.Circuitry for a mobile telecommunications system entity for a mobiletelecommunications system including at least one entity serving at leastone user equipment, the circuitry being configured to: transmitscheduling information for on-demand system information, which can berequested by the at least one user equipment.
 10. The circuitry for themobile telecommunications system entity of claim 9, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to transmit the scheduling informationincluded in system information.
 11. The circuitry for the mobiletelecommunications system entity of claim 10, wherein the schedulinginformation is included in a system information block of the systeminformation.
 12. The circuitry for the mobile telecommunications systementity of claim 9, wherein the scheduling information is divided atleast in a first part and a second part.
 13. The circuitry for themobile telecommunications system entity of claim 12, wherein the firstpart includes information about a time schedule.
 14. The circuitry forthe mobile telecommunications system entity of claim 13, wherein thesecond part is transmitted according to the information about the timeschedule.
 15. The circuitry for the mobile telecommunications systementity of claim 9, wherein the system information includes minimumsystem information which includes basic information for initial accessto a cell.
 16. The circuitry for the mobile telecommunications systementity of claim 15, wherein the on-demand system information is notincluded in the minimum system information.
 17. A method of operating amobile telecommunications system entity including at least one entityserving at least one user equipment, comprising: transmitting schedulinginformation for on-demand system information, which can be requested bythe at least one user equipment.
 18. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising: transmitting the scheduling information included in systeminformation, wherein the scheduling information is included in a systeminformation block of the system information.
 19. The method of claim 17,wherein the scheduling information is divided at least in a first partand a second part.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first partincludes information about a time schedule.